Sam Parker

Sam Parker

Shell Foundation

Director

Sam Parker is Director of the Shell Foundation, an independent UK-registered charity trying to create and scale new solutions to global development challenges. He was named to the position in 2015 after many years working in industry and the non-profit space in Latin America , Asia and elsewhere.
After graduating from Oxford University in 1983, Parker worked for six years in the agrochemical industry, with a focus on Latin America. After 18 months working as a volunteer with street children in Sao Paulo, Parker returned to business with 11 years at a UK commodity trading company, becoming Managing Director of the company’s Asian business in 2001. In 2002, Parker returned to the development sector as Organisational Development Manager at the International Save the Children Alliance. In 2006, he joined Water & Sanitation for the Urban Poor (WSUP), as its first CEO. WSUP is a not-for-profit company, comprised of private sector and NGO members, which empowers local WASH service providers to serve low income urban consumers on a commercially viable basis.